Founded in 1951, Nihon Kohden is Japan's leading manufacturer, developer and distributor of medical electronic equipment with subsidiaries in the USA, Europe and Asia and distributors in nearly every country in the world.
Their major product lines for export are patient monitors, electroencephalographs, evoked potential and electromyograph systems, electrocardiographs, defibrillators, and hematology analyzers. Nihon Kohden equipment is well known for its quality and ease of use.
Notable in its multitudes of inventions was the development of the principle of pulse oximetry by Nihon Kohden researcher Takuo Aoyagi in the early 1970’s. Before that, the measurement of blood oxygen saturation required arterial blood sampling. Thanks to pulse oximetry, the critical parameter of SpO2 can be measured painlessly, continuously and in real time.